My first build. I do Photoshop and light gaming. Tweaks appreciated.

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NormanHarley

Commendable
May 10, 2016
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I have a good computer, Acer Predator with an i5 4590, NVIDIA GTX745 4 GB, 1 TB WCD hard drive and I added a Crucial 500 GB SSD. I have been reading and learning about computer builds and have up to $1500 to invest. This is what I have come up with so far, under budget and I have some room for improvements. I mainly want my large batch RAW photo files to process faster and I think this is a good start. I don't play the new, high demand games.
I want a quiet build so maybe this:
http://www.amazon.com/Nanoxia-Silence-Motherboard-Coolers-Controllers/dp/B00M49SNVI?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_3&smid=A35IHEXR76RHMZ
Extra power for future expansion which I know I will need.
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperNOVA-Crossfire-Warranty-220-G2-0750-XR/dp/B00IKDETOW?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_2&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Uncertain about this card, but it does have 4 GB, which should help and it is in my price range.
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-R7-370-GAMING-4G/dp/B00ZGF11YS?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
I want Windows 10 so I am up to date on my OS.
http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Home-System-Builder/dp/B00ZSI7Y3U?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_4&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Are the external drives better, is this one ok? I don't watch DVDs, only for loading disk programs.
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-DVD-Writer-Internal-SH-224FB-BSBE/dp/B00WAG0WIM?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_5&smid=ANU9P4C3SJQYZ
I can add more cooling later, but I think this is a good start.
http://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-Freezer-i30-Extreme-Cooler/dp/B006T0H5J4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_6&smid=A28VADU4WUGJ11
Two of these hard drives, RAW files take up a lot of room. I want both of my hard drives to be the same, but not sure if that is necessary.
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-75E500B-AM/dp/B00OBRE5UE?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_7&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
I want fast RAM sticks and plenty of extra memory for future upgrades.
http://www.amazon.com/Viper-Elite-DDR4-2666MHz-PVE48G266C5KRD/dp/B0196AWM0K?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_8&smid=A26PVB3960EU85
I am so lost when it comes to Motherboards, but this one seems reasonable...
http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-LGA1151-Intel-Motherboards-GA-Z170X-Gaming/dp/B012N6E996?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_9&smid=A23NVCSO4PYH3S
This one is unlocked, I think it is what I want for future expansion and overclocking.
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Boxed-I5-6600K-Processor-BX80662I56600K/dp/B012M8M7TY?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_10&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

What can I improve, did I forget something, and do these components work well with each other? All guidance appreciated!
 
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Lutfij
I believe this build will be able to give you the best of both productive and entertainment worlds:
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/FbGZ8K

You should stick to one large sized SSD for as your boot drive since Windows 10 tends to go belly up on most RAID array systems thus the inclusion of only one 480GB SSD(which is also cheaper than the Samsung) as far the ram is concerned, if you're on Photoshop, ram tends to get used a lot. So I thought of maximizing the ram on your system and in that effect I also decided to go for a smaller form factor to ease with layout and desk space.

Higher frequencies on your ram can come from a package, the CPU's onboard IMC(integrated memory controller) the ram's themselves and the motherboard slots. Now you...
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Lutfij

Lutfij

Titan
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Oct 7, 2009
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I believe this build will be able to give you the best of both productive and entertainment worlds:
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/FbGZ8K

You should stick to one large sized SSD for as your boot drive since Windows 10 tends to go belly up on most RAID array systems thus the inclusion of only one 480GB SSD(which is also cheaper than the Samsung) as far the ram is concerned, if you're on Photoshop, ram tends to get used a lot. So I thought of maximizing the ram on your system and in that effect I also decided to go for a smaller form factor to ease with layout and desk space.

Higher frequencies on your ram can come from a package, the CPU's onboard IMC(integrated memory controller) the ram's themselves and the motherboard slots. Now you can have higher spec'd rams but the IMC and the board will also need to play their parts. Price wise, there isn't much of a difference between DDR4 2666 and 3200 so the latter was opted in. One other thing on being a photographer is that you tend to end up with multiple files/duplicates thus the large HDD capacity but you're going to back up that same HDD for redundancy's sake in case your system is more of an income generator.

I included the RX480 merely because it's the latest there is at a good price point and lower TDP. If you're more of an Nvidia guy, the above system is more than capable of accepting beefier cards.
 
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